Machinist Doug Godin plugs in the commands to create a brass internal-plumbing part. Godin says once they have set and tested the program and commands, they can set the machines to make dozens or more parts in a row. (Kara Morgan / The Fort Morgan Times)

The Barry E. Walter Sr. Company is all about the family.

Chief Operating Officer Barry Walter Jr. said the Fort Morgan-based company started in the internal plumbing supply business with their grandfather back in the 1950s.

After serving in the U.S. Navy in World War II, he returned stateside and started working for a plumbing supply company in southern California.

Apparently, it had become harder and harder to get replacement plumbing parts after those companies had gone out of business during the Depression and WWII.

Walter's grandfather, a skilled manufacturer and engineer, realized he could re-create the plumbing parts himself, if a customer brought them to him.

Barry Walter Jr. explained the family back-story:

"He talked to his boss, since he was a machinist in the Navy, and he said, 'Hey, I can make these parts that the plumbers can't get anymore,'" Walter said. "So his boss bought him a machine and he put it in his garage.

"A plumber would say, 'Do you have this?' and he would say, 'Nope, but I'll have it for you tomorrow.'

"He would take that original part, go home and make two or three of them, then hang up that original one in his shop, sell one and keep a couple in stock."

Eventually, Walter Plumbing Parts was born. Walter explained that his grandfather was better at the engineering side than the business side, so he worked with multiple business partners throughout the original company's history.

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"He was an amazing engineer, amazing manufacturer. He could make anything, he could design anything, but he was not a good businessman," Walter explained.

The original company went bankrupt, and Barry E. Walter Sr., Walter's father, decided to start it up again.

"The last partner he sold out to, and he retired. That last partner of the company filed Chapter 11... and he closed the doors," Walter explained.

An article in The Fort Morgan Times from April 1995 hangs on the Barry E. Walter Sr. Co. Chief Operations Officer Barry Walter Jr. says they work hard to remember their roots. (Kara Morgan / The Fort Morgan Times)

"My dad was working for the company at the time. I was in high school. I remember talking with my father, and saying 'What are you going to do?'

"He said, 'Well, I'm going to continue doing that.'"

Barry Walter Sr. apparently saw the most important part as those model parts. As long as they had those, they could make more.

"The most important part of the company was all of those samples my grandfather got and hung up in the shop. Those samples were the value my dad saw.

"The machinery, the equipment, was all replaceable. Things were changing with technology," Walter Jr. explained.

So his parents decided to take the leap and started Barry E. Walter Sr. Company in Jan. 1987.

Machinist Doug Godin checks a test part he just produced using a 'Computer Numerical Control' (CNC) machine at the Barry E. Walter Sr. Co. in Fort Morgan. (Kara Morgan / The Fort Morgan Times)

"He and my mom took a second mortgage out on their house, bought up the assets of the Walter Plumbing Parts and started out on their own," Walter explained. "It'll be 32 years this year."

In December 1994, the company moved from California to Fort Morgan to grow the business.

"My parents decided the cost of doing business in Los Angeles was just becoming ridiculous," Walter explained.

"They decided on Colorado. They ended up going to a relocation expo in Anaheim. Fort Morgan had a booth," Walter said.

Walter said they can thank local Fort Morgan folks for drawing his parents' attention to the area.

"Sandy Schneider-Engle was running the booth with MCC," he said.

With a couple of criteria in mind, Walter's parents found the perfect fit in Fort Morgan.

"They wanted to be far enough from a big city so they wouldn't be swallowed up, close enough to an interstate, so the raw material could come in and the finished product could go out.

"Our customers are all the big cities: LA, New York, Orlando, Houston," Walter said. "It doesn't matter where we're located, as long as we can ship the product out."

"Fort Morgan had all the different things they wanted," he added.

Walter said he joined the company around when they decided to come to Fort Morgan. He says he will be with the company 25 years this December.

Machinist Doug Godin peers into a 'Computer Numerical Control' (CNC) to make sure the test part is made correctly. Chief Operating Officer Barry Walter Jr. says they make thousands of plumbing parts every day that is distributed across the country and beyond. (Kara Morgan / The Fort Morgan Times)

Since moving to Fort Morgan, the company has grown from around five employees and a worth of about $500,000 to 30 full-time employees and around $4 million in sales today, according to Walter.

Walter said most of the families that worked with them in Los Angeles decided to move with them.

Today, they have been based in Fort Morgan for nearly a quarter century and now supply plumbing parts across the country and outside the United States.

Core values

Walter explained the five core values that make up and drive the Barry E. Walter Sr. Company.

"Hiring, anything we do is run through our five core values," Walter said.

The first value is 'family first'. Walter said that's an important part of their company: Family comes before business. They have a sign in their lobby with the words, 'Why we exist' and pictures of their team members and their families.

Along with the emphasis on the importance of family in the culture of the company, Walter says it influences the wages and insurance they provide, to empower employees to support their families.

Another value is 'serving others'. If employees complete eight hours of community service with a list of approved partner organizations, they are given 8 hours of paid time off (PTO) by the company.

Next on the list is 'building relationships'.

"We do two team meetings a month; the second one is a team-building meeting. We bring in lunch for everybody, we get everybody together, we talk about our core values, mission, vision," Walter explained.

"Whatever part of leadership we can focus on, because everybody here has some role as a leader," Walter added.

Their value of 'small business' connects to their customer base. Walter said almost all of their customers are small businesses.

The fifth: 'American made matters.' "That's what we do," Walter said. "We make parts here in the U.S."

Aside from some import items for those that are not made in the United States, Walter says the majority of their stock is made in this country.

Family

The focus on family makes sense for a company with a management base of four brothers and their father.

Beyond the brothers, the 30-person company is made up of a range of people who come from a variety of backgrounds.

Barry Walter Jr. says it is important to have a 'diversity of ideas' among their staff to help the company and team learn from each other and grow.

Walter says they have a rigorous interviewing process when they are hiring, but they hire for the mindset and values, not necessarily a specific set of technical skills.

Walter said it's important for them to make sure any new staff member is a good fit for the team and work, and then they can train them in the specific skills required for each job.

"We hire for culture, train for skill," he explained.

Walter says there is not a large base of CNC machinist skills in Fort Morgan, so they mostly 'build' their company's skill set internally.

Business today

Though the 'family business' began with manual-machine-made plumbing supplies, today most of their supplies are made with 'Computer Numerical Control' (CNC) machines.

Walter said they can make about 17,000 different parts, most of them made with brass.

"We go through about 7,000 pounds of brass a week," Walter said. "We make lots of plumbing parts. The parts that make your water turn on and off."

On a daily basis, Walter says they make anywhere from 3,000 to 6,000 parts, or about 30 or so different rounds or set-ups for a part on a machine.

Machinist Doug Godin has worked with the company about 11 years.

On Friday, he demonstrated how they set up one of the CNC machines to make a set of parts; writing the program; inputting commands into the machine; running a couple of test parts to make sure it is running smoothly; then letting the machine run and checking on it every couple of hours.

On the other side of the warehouse, there is the section where other technicians make or finish parts using manual machines. Walter says the majority are made on the CNC machines.

Community

With about 25 years in the community under their belt, Walter says it's important for the company to stay connected to and support the community, whether that be through their community service-PTO policy, supporting fellow Colorado manufacturers, or reaching out to youth organizations in the community to show them their options for a career in manufacturing.

The company stays connected to their local manufacturing community through the Colorado Advanced Manufacturing Association (CAMA) and the Northeastern Colorado Manufacturing (NECOM).

Barry Walter Jr. is one of the leaders and founding members of NECOM, while Barry Walter Sr. is one of the board members of CAMA.

Walter says it's important to him that young people in the community understand the options out there for them when they consider a career, and the opportunities available just in their own backyard.

With the Morgan Community College, Walter says he is serving as an 'Industry Champion' for an upcoming 'Girls Only' manufacturing career information event Thursday, Feb. 21, for eighth and ninth grade students.

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